Excitement in Ireland before duel with Israel: Unwanted opponent

The next test of Irish-Israeli relations will not be long in coming. After the controversy surrounding the Irish-born musician Ed Sheeran, whose support bands dropped out of his US tour because the rapper Macklemore was booted out for allegedly making anti-Semitic statements, this time it's about football: Ireland has been drawn against Israel in the Nations League.

Israel has not hosted any international football matches since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. The game will take place on Sunday at the Nagyerdei Stadium in Debrecen, Hungary. Since the Irish association FAI has gotten cold feet about the expected protests, the Irish “home game” will be played a week later behind closed doors in the remote Serbian town of Bačka Topola for safety reasons.

That will hardly calm the situation. According to a poll, 75 percent of Irish fans oppose the upcoming games against Israel. Heimir Hallgrímsson, the Iceland coach of the Irish national football team, said: "I think it is dangerous not to play. We are hosting the European Championships in 2028. What if Israel is in our group at the European Championships?"

That could happen because while European football's governing body keeps Spain and Gibraltar, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and Ukraine and Russia separate, Ireland's request to be kept away from Israel was rejected because there was no history of "direct conflict."

Some of the players "feel really uncomfortable" about having to play the games, Hallgrímsson said, stressing that Israel should be banned for the same reason Russia was banned by FIFA and UEFA. He added: “We are not playing with genocide, we are playing against genocide.” Because of this sentence, the Israeli Football Association wants to file a formal complaint with UEFA.

Public broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) will limit its reporting to the bare minimum. There will be no studio coverage surrounding the game and the broadcast will be provided by UEFA-appointed commentators.

Meanwhile, 170 Irish athletes have sent a letter to the Irish national team calling on footballers to boycott the games against Israel. Irish international Séamus Coleman said he knew “the difference between right and wrong” but the Israel debate “should not have been fought on our backs”.

Former Ireland international Kevin Kilbane was clearer: "Ireland should not play against Israel. Not while Israeli forces are committing genocide. But the FAI have screwed it up."

Another former international, 55-year-old Kenny Cunningham, believes that the home game should have taken place in Dublin: "I would have thought it would be a good thing if the Israeli team had come onto the pitch in Dublin's Aviva Stadium and the Israeli national anthem had been respected, because for me that would be a signal - from the Irish to the Israeli people, who also suffered in this conflict."

The Israel-Palestine conflict is discussed controversially, especially in left-wing circles. There are also some fundamentally different positions on this in the taz. In this section you will find all comments and debate contributions on the topic of the Middle East.

Last November, the FAI unsuccessfully asked UEFA to exclude Israel. Gavin Cooney wrote in the Irish Times: "The Israel Football Association is in clear breach of FIFA and UEFA statutes by organizing matches in the occupied territories of the West Bank. The associations' inaction has placed the FAI in an extremely delicate position."

The Irish association said there would be no usual dinners for officials. Whether the Irish players shake hands with their opponents is up to them.